On Monday, Jordan expelled the Syrian Ambassador, General Bahjat Suleiman, having warned him for more than a year about criticism of Amman on social media. Damascus soon retaliated by ordering the departure of Jordan’s ambassador.

The Syrian Observer offers some insight into the developments with a profile of Suleiman, who had held his post since 2009.

The General was expected to return to Syria soon after the start of the 2011 uprising, joining officers called up to handle the crisis.

Instead, he was kept in neighboring Jordan, a sensitive position because of Syrian opposition activities and the flow of refugees into the country.

Activists claim that Suleiman, whose career has been built in internal security — including leadership of the internal branch of the General Security Directorate from 1999 to 2005 — was retained in Amman to lead an effective “intelligence office” monitoring the Syrian dissidents.

The General has been an astute political operator. He had been a vocal supporter of Rifaat al-Assad, President Bashar al-Assad’s uncle, who has broken from his nephew while still supporting the Syrian regime; however, Suleiman was able to swing his support behind President Assad’s father and predecessor, Hafez, and he supported Bashar’s succession to the Presidency in 2000.

He ran into trouble both at home and abroad in 2005. He was pushed into a marginal post after a clash with President Assad’s brother-in-law Asef Shawkat, and he faced claims of involvement in the assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.

However, he was able to retain not only political influence but also economic power through the companies and commercial activities of the Aluge Group, registered in the names of his relatives. His son, Majd is one of the most prominent businessmen in Syria, with a media empire and a series of restaurants.

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It is Suleiman’s loud activity on social media which has provoked the Jordanian authorities. The Ambassador has claimed that Syrian refugees in the Zaatari camp have forced some occupants into prostitution. In a Facebook account, under the name Khatirat Abou al-Majed, he has posted colorful personal opinions full of insults and obscenities, particularly against Gulf states.

The provocations have been accompanied by diplomatic snubs. When the Jordanian Foreign Ministry summoned him to protest Syrian shells falling on Al-Turrah in northern Jordan, Suleiman pretended he was on vacation and sent a working-level Embassy staffer to receive the protest note.

In June 2013, Jordan warned Suleiman to refrain from hostile language in his media activities. He paid little attention.

Now, because of those activities — or because of wider political maneuvers in both Syria and Jordan, which hosts the multi-national center supporting the Syrian insurgency — the General has finally been returned to Damascus.

(Photo: Associated Press)